Altitude: 500
by ChromeImpala
Summary: As Skylar Hawthorne, a teen living in Montana, is plummeted into an adventure of not-so-lost-love along side Max and the Flock, they narrowly escape the nefarious evils of the scientists crazed by misguided power. Soar with the flock with Skylar and experience the keen sting of love, loss, and the thrill of adventure!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is one of my first stories so hopefully you'll enjoy!;) Reviews and private messages are really appreciated so if youbwant some extra cool points go ahead! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own a pretty darn cool Fedora...**

Skylar:

Our eyes lock and stare, his the deepest blue that could drown you in seconds, mine pale lavender like spring irises. Only mine are filled with bursting hope, and regret, and sadness, but his; his are blank. The same blank eyes that tore my world apart two years ago in that coffin.

But let me back up, say, a week?

"Don't forget the Nutella!" I shouted passionately at the closed door behind which Uncle Matt was leaving. We've always had a special screaming agreement in our house: He can burst out into any old Van Halen song his old man heart desires, and I don't have to leave the room to remind him feed my chocolate addiction.

I grab my computer and open it up. When the screen finally buzzes to life revealing my screen saver photo taken back when my parents were..around. Naturally I was devastated when I came home to find Uncle Matt's teary woe of how my parents had been missing up until a that morning when two corpses had been discovered. Of course I was only eight. Now, eight years later I stand as 16 year old Skylar Hawthorne: 5'6 with straight golden-blonde locks. Like any normal teenager in Montana, I grew up with few neighbors, went to a prison cell of education, and had recently received my drivers license. I attend Forest Creek High along with my two best friends Chealsea Ryder (a preppy brunette whose soul ambition was to become student council president) and Tyler Wenton, a reclusive lacrosse player who was desperately in need a haircut.

I begin to type my essay, which takes about half an hour thanks to my lack of references. When I'm ready to print, I hit the tiny button, which proceeded to remind me that we were out of ink.

"What is life?!" I groan out loud as I roll out of bed and stride into my uncles office down the hall. It was a cozy room, filled with books and stacks of paper from his work. When I was younger I had always been afraid to go in here. At that time any sketchy relative's office seemed like a dragon's den, but now it was just a place where the staples and ink were. I brush through his work papers, ignoring all the complicated words. I always knew there was something messed up about Uncle Matt's job but gave up asking years ago. Once when I was twelve I followed him to the office. And I saw things-things I'm still haunted by. I grab the ink and finish printing and scramble back to my room.

Max:

"Buzz...Buzzz Buzz... "  
It won't stop. It hasn't for three days. I look up and stare fiercely at my opponent: "If you don't stop in the next five seconds, I'm going to rip your sockets out and drop kick your first born child!" I shouted in rage, lunging.

"Max for the last time: calm down, it's just a monitor!" Fang grunts in the cage next to me. I glare at the stupid machine that has been monitoring our hearts for the last what seems like forever.

We've been trapped, caged, abused, and had just about everything else happen to us for the past week I was getting sick of it.

"I'm hungry." Mumbled Iggy, whose five -star dog crate complete with tazing wires and a water dish sat adjacent to mine. Angel and Nudge we're curled up next to him sleeping despite my loud rants, Gazzy was picking at the sole of one of his red sneakers, and Dylan was humming along to the tune of the very machine that trapped us. Every time I look up, there he is, staring at me. I feel Fang's fingertips brush mine through the crate bars and sparks of electricity rocket through my arm.

"Hey," he says quietly, peering at me through his dark bangs.

"Hey," I say back. I wait a few seconds then finally speak. "This is stupid!" I exclaim.

"I know," he whispers as Angel shifts in her crate. "But-"

Just then, a loud crash sounded as a herd of white coats came bustling in. They seemed to communicate only in nods and grunts as they push through the crowds of medical carts. Big Nose (yes, I name my touturers, can you blame me?) slides open Iggy's crate and proceeds to drag him out by his leg.  
"At least buy me dinner first," Iggy moans, too exhausted to fight. The white coat with a hideous comb-over instructs him to sit on the table. My heart drops to my stomach. I know what comes next. I shut my eyes as the screaming starts. They're doing it. Again. I don't even have to look to picture the long, cold needles. My hand automatically grabs the scar on my neck from my own touture.

After what seems like hours, it stops and Iggy is practically rolled back into his cell. We're all silent. There's nothing to say except that we HAVE to get out of here.

Skylar:

"...and I'll be back in an hour and a half." Uncle Matt finishes. I'm sitting alone in the visitors office like I do almost every Friday afternoon. I pull out my headphones and turn on Pandora radio. I scan the room and see that nothing's changed as usual. Three pale green chairs, a small coffee table with the normal display of out dated People magazine. Above the door are a plethora of motivational posters featuring various felines who apparently "follow their dreams" or "hang in there". I sigh and get up to walk around. Like I said before, Uncle Matt's office is a sketchy place, but it's not like I can't have fun. Usually I go find the snack lounge to mess with the machines. I stroll in a go over my check list: 1. Look like you know what you're doing. 2. Don't get caught. I stride in confidently and begin to mix the cocoa mix with the orange soda and put it in the microwave.

"-and I was like, put that down or so help me!" I hear from down the hall. I accidentally spill my chocolate soda as I sprint down the hall and duck into a dark room. I can hear the clatter engendered by my surprise painting on the break room floor. I sit in silence for a few more minutes until I'm sure they've moved on. Standing up, I flip the light switch and now here I am, back in present day:  
Our eyes lock and stare, his the deepest blue that could drown you in seconds, mine pale lavender like spring irises. Only mine are filled with bursting hope, and regret, and sadness, but his; his are blank. The same blank eyes that tore my world apart two years ago in that coffin. Parker...

"Um..." He scrambles for words. I'm stuck breathless. He looks exactly the same as two years ago: almost six and a half feet tall with sandy blonde hair, and those eyes; the ones that haunted me for months.  
"Hey Blondie," a dark haired boy I just realized was alive pipes up from a nearby dog crate. "You here to kill us or what?"  
"I was getting to that," Parker asks, obviously annoyed.  
"Shut up, Dylan," Emo boy mutters. Wait-Dylan? What? Before I can ask a dirty blonde girl about my age who looks severely annoyed speaks.  
"Yeah, so if you either could either finish us off-preferably by something cool like electrocutions-"  
"Or pyrotechnics!" A young boy with wide eyes interrupts.  
"Yeah," she finishes, "or whatever's faster. But just in case your not a corporate murder, which I'm guessing is contrary to your fashionable jeans and sweater, perhaps you could open some gates then go back to your pop culture life minus six freaky teenagers." I'm completely dumbfounded when I look up and see who these people really are: wings. They all have beautiful, magnificent, gorgeous wings. And Parker- wait- Dylan's are golden like wheat fields. I'm about to bolt when Dylan says the one word that could get me to do anything, go anywhere, or be anyone:  
"Please." And that was it.

**Hopefully you guys like it, if not review so I know im not wasting my time(jk)! Next chapter comming soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Next chapter comming at you! Enjoy;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

Skylar:

Left turn; down three hallways; four rights and one pass coded door, which I

happen to almost know the code to. Upon instruction of a pretty girl who looked to be about 14 named Nudge, I did a series of levers, buttons, and keys that eventually unlocked the cages.  
"Thanks," Max said turning to me "We'll take it from here." I look around desperately and rack my brain, trying to come up with every reason to go with them. So far I had three:

1) Dylan. Always Dylan/Parker/whoever he was now  
2) What's left for me here? Oh wait, my family, my education, my...

Deciding I probably couldn't make it to the third reason without changing my mind, I ran along side the group until we stumbled upon the first fork in the hallway.

"Left!" I whisper scream.

"Wait a sec-" Max says turning to me. "Who let her come?"

"I did," I refute stubbornly. This girl was obviously not used to being told no, judging by her commanding stance and pursed lips. Her eyes darted across my body and finally met my face with a cold stare.

"Your funeral," she muttered, taking off to the right.

"I just said it was left genius!" I call after her. The rest of the group were hesitantly following her all except the little blonde girl, who patiently waited.

"Please excuse Max," she piped up in a light voice. "She can be a little boneheaded sometimes."

"Angel!" I hear from around the corner. Max comes fuming, looking totally embarrassed about her ruined exit. "What if she's one of THEM?"

"She's not. I checked," Angel almost sang as she played with her hair. Max rolled her eyes and looked to the Emo kid known as Fang, who I can tell by now was not the outspoken preppy type. He just shrugged and flicked his eyes to the alarms we all knew would be going off any minute.

"Whatever," Max sighed, annoyed and exasperated. They followed me down a series of passageways I knew led to the back entrance until the screeching started. The hall was instantly filled with horrors I could never imagine. Everywhere I looked there were white coats and big guards pointing guns in every direction. The group immediately took up fighting positions and went to work. The only thought in my head was 'They don't know it's me! I'm going to die!' But my panic was rudely interrupted by a beefy arm grabbing my hair. Let me tell you, you never pull a girls hair unless you want to die. That was the exact reason I had no problem with connecting my knee with his groin and pinching hard on the inside of his upper forearm decorated with a terrible motorcade tattoo. While he was stunned I slammed my foot into his knee cap, disabling him. I'm about to turn to face my new attacker when I hear a sickening crunch to my left and find a horribly disfigured wing attached to the strawberry blonde boy I had previously freed. Seeing as no one had noticed him with the exception of the oncoming attackers, I pulled him out of the way of the brawl and laid him near the door.

"Stay conscious okay," I plead with him, elevating his feathery wing, now caked with blood. Fang notices what I'm doing and covers for me, taking on two guards at once.

"Max?" He whispers, starting to slip away.

"Skylar. But that's not important. What's important is you staying awake and alive." I can hear the clatter getting closer. "I pull some bandages from the lab table to my left and start.

"What's your name?" Another desk goes flying.

"Iggy," he manages to mumble through the pain.

"Who is the current president?" I ask, trying to distract him.

"Who cares? They're all a bunch of-ahh!" He screams as I tie off my job of setting the bone. The fight seems about done when I feeling a blindingly sharp stab in my left shoulder I turn to see the attacker and my eyes are met with the brown, stern eyes of the man who raised me. He looks shocked for a moment, but then, like a coward, he runs. I knew that was probably the last time I would ever see him: running. I yank out the needle, which is now oozing a red liquid. My shoulder is on fire as I drag Iggy to the nearest exit. By now the others have taken off into the forest, leaving me with their unconscious comrade. I muster all my strength as lift the tall boy up in my arms. It takes almost a half hour, including the pursing scientists, but I manage to hide us in a small patch of briars hollowed out by some sort of animal. I cover him with some leaves and lie down to catch my breath. After a few minutes he gasps and wakes up.

"Where am I?" He asks feeling around. That's when I finally notice that he's blind. I look into his pale eyes and reply,  
"Hiding in a briar patch from people who want to kill us."

"The usual," he sighs. "Are we alone?"

"Not unless you count the centipedes," I say screwing up my nose.

"Oh God," his eyes get wide," did we kiss?" I laugh out loud at the question.

"No idiot. You're not exactly my type. Or species."

"Sorry I forgot this wasn't the Hunger Games. My bad." He tries to roll over but winces. "Hey- Why does my wing hurt so bad?"

"Gravity and leverage were quite the team," I answer flatly. I hear a small rustle from a nearby bush and stiffen. When I see Angel's light hair peeking out from behind a pine tree I relax and crawl out of the brush.

"Over here," I say, pulling leaves out of my hair and straightening my blouse.

"You're alright! Awesome! Is Iggy here?" She says, scanning the scence.

"In here," I gesture to the bracken and leaf hideout.

"Perfect," she says crawling in. She's upset when she sees the state of him but happy to have him back.

"I'll tell the others," she says. Closing her eyes, she looks like she's thinking really hard. I hear a faint voice in the back of my head '_Iggy and the girl are fine. We're near the forests southeast end.' _  
Startled, I almost trip over a log but instead fall against a tree.

"What was that?!" I yell at her. She seems totally unfazed as she replies, "I have telepathy." She said it the same way you might say 'I have practice,' or 'Here's a bag of soup."

"Okay...telepathy...I can deal with that," I mutter to myself uneasily. We set to work making Iggy more comfortable and Angel explains their situation. Apparently they had been chased for years by insane scientists like my uncle who wanted to turn them into major government weaponry.

"-and then you rescued us," she finishes with a flicker of gratitude.

"Hmm. So tell me about your friends," I inquired, holding back my millions of questions picking apart my brain like vultures.

"Well, I'm Angel. I can read minds and talk to some animals and stuff. Max can fly really fast and is like our mom, but not really. Gazzy is the little blonde boy who looks like me because he's my brother and he makes bombs a lot- don't ask. Dylan-" my ears perk up at his name. "-can..I don't know, sing well, but that's more of a talent but he's still cool. Oh, and he can 'see' stuff. Iggy here is blind but can hear everything super well. Lastly, Fang can kind of fade into the environment." She pauses,"like a chameleon!" She breaks out into an adorable kid smile. We wait while until the group otherwise known as 'the flock' according to Angel.

"Alright: what happened to Iggy?" Max demands while folding up her wings.

"We'll I was saving some orphans when-" Iggy starts but I interrupt.

"He broke it in a fall," I answer. Max's eyes flash to me, apparently just noticing my presence.

"Wait-you're still here?" She snapped.

"Yep, and so is your friend here," I reply, gesturing towards Iggy.

"Yeah Max. I'm only here because of her! Can we keep her? Please!?" Iggy says sarcastically.

"No! She's-" before Max can protest Dylan pipes up from nowhere.

"She did save Iggy," he mumbles quietly, tugging at his flannel. Our eyes meet for a flicker of a second but the moments gone as fast as it came.

"She can't fly!" Nudge exclaims, standing behind Max.

"Thanks bro," They fist bump.

"We'll neither can Iggy," Fang interjects.

"Fang!" Max moans.

"I have a car!" I shout to stop the fighting. All of a sudden, Max is my new BFF.

"Alright let's go!" She grins while putting her arm around my shoulder. We trek back to my place taking turns helping Iggy. When it's my turn I put his arm around my shoulder as I help him up the next hill.

"Soo..." He says. "Pretty great first date, huh?" He smiles a big toothy grin. I almost drop him flat on his wing.

"You're kidding right?" I gape.

"Yeah, jk. But hey, as a bird kid this is about as good as it gets," He laughs. We walk along making jokes until my shifts done. Dylan comes up to take his turn and I can't help but watch his every move. He's bigger now, stronger. He shoots me a small appreciative smile then lifts Iggy up and trudges on.

I wait for the moment for him to turn around and yell '_Gotcha! It's me! I missed you so much_!' Then we'd kiss and my life would piece back together. But that moment never came. He kept walking.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you heard a crack, you may be crazy, because a shattering heart you cannot hear, but a broken one you can feel.

**Hope you liked it! Hopefully I'll have the next one soon. Reviews are very much appreciated and just for fun here's a fan question: Who is you favorite couple match up?**


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